—
Socks, shirt, shorts. Tie your shoes. Maybe they are not tied so well, then you tie them again. You hardly remember how to wear contact lenses. Comb your hair. The mirror reflects your image as always, but today is different. Wear the k-way in case it rains.
Reach the pine forest. You come back here after 11 months, when you felt that ache in your adductor. “It’s not a big deal, maybe it’s a little fatigue“, you thought.

Start walking to the main dirt road. It’s not crowded today. You start moving faster after few hundred meters, taking a brisk walking. Feel the muscles of your legs slowly warming up. A guy next to you zips along and passes you. After a while you meet a gentleman who is walking in your opposite direction.
“Good morning,” he says.
“Good morning,” you reply.

Speed ​​up the pace again. A couple of chatting women overtakes you. They curiously turn back giving you a nod as greeting. You reply likewise.
And again, a young man with headphones runs on the other side with a great tread.
“Hello!”
“Uh, hello!”
Everything sounds like you have never been away from that place. You definitely don’t know any of these people who greeted you. You are part of that dimension, despite everything. You have always belonged to it , after all.

The wind is behind you, it gently blows on your nape. The fast pace gives way to the push of the wind. It’s like riding a bike, when your father leaves the hand from the saddle and you are convinced he is still behind you, but your two wheels are going by themselves.
You are an inch off the ground. Your feet in the air, together, simultaneously. However, the short steps are close to the ground because you are afraid to run. You are listening to your body – under tension – because it needs just a hint of pain to stop your insecure pace. Stretch your shoulders and relax the muscles, and let yourself been carried away by that clumsy, indecisive, fearful, ugly run. But you are running anyway, the rest will flow. Feel the rhythm in your chest you usually feel when you run with no music in your ears. Only silence, the sound of footsteps and that rhythm in your head.